Western Australian Women Gaelic Football Team

THE Western Australian women's team won a stirring victory in the Australasian Gaelic Football Championship 2010.

The sandgropers once again locked horns with South Australia in the grand final, continuing a long-standing rivalry between the two teams. The tournament, played in Auckland, New Zealand from September 27 to October 3, saw WA flatten their hosts, SA and Queensland throughout the week. SA, in its trademark never say day spirit, gave WA a scare by scoring two goals in the first five minutes of the second half of the final but they were no match for the wild west, who delivered a thumping in the end, 5-10 to 2-1.

WA was determined not to panic and kept the pedal to the metal for the rest of the game. Christina Kreppold, Jane Padgett, Louise Knitter and captain Renae Campbell all scored sensational goals for WA. "It was a 100 per cent team effort and we totally stuck to the game plan," enthused Ms Campbell. "It was a very controlled, methodical, well-executed win. "There were no surprises, we were ready for everything they had."

She is harking back to a horror tournament in 2008 when WA let complacency get the better of them. "We'd been hammering everyone all week. We thought we had it in the bag, everyone did, except South Australia."

The Sandgropers let victory slip through their fingers by just one point--the only time WA has failed to take the cup home in the last six years. "We were deteremined to never let that happen again."

She says speed, fitness and "no weak links" won the day for WA this year. "We didn't depend on one, two or three players to the point where superstars didn't shine at all. That epitomises a great team." "The people who put the ball over the bar was the full stop at the end of a good sentence," chimed player Caroline Watson.

Pia Kilburn won the best and fairest award for the tournament and was selected for the Australasian team, along with Lisa Rath, Louise Knitter, Renae Campbell, Robyn Williams, Christina Kreppold, Bernie Egan and Katie Bastians.